Ghosts of the Vortex
by DragonlordR
Summary: She wandered the strangely infinite barren wastelands for many years, in an endless loop of madness. One day, she sensed a rift in the dimension, and upon investigating it, she finds a group of living souls, much unlike herself. What are they, and why are they here, in the dimension of death?


**Warning: There will be violence. There is also an original Summoner character involved, who remains unnamed for the entirety of this short story. The events of this story are purely fictional.**

* * *

 **[Mission from the Akras Summoners' Hall]**

 **"There appears to be an anomaly in the Vortex. A strange world has appeared in there, and we have tracked its source to a summoned hero from the past. They are within their own dimension formed from a fragment of their memory, so neutralizing them would clear the anomaly. It is recommended that you have at least a full team of Units with the lethality ranking of 5 Stars or more, and recently evolved Units are highly discouraged. Take up this mission at your own risk. You may bring a reinforcement Unit to aid you."**

* * *

The plains were empty.

No signs of life, not a single other soul to be seen.

For the thousandth time or so, -it was hard to say, her mind did not keep track- she noted the desolate land before her, characterized by the cracks in the dry ground, sparse vegetation growing in some of the cracks, the sun's harsh light shining down on her. Still, she felt no heat, no exhaustion, no thirst, she felt nothing. Numb to her surroundings, all she could do was to simply wander the wasteland endlessly.

There was something strange about her existence, though she could not pay it any heed, for her mind was blank. Something told her that she had something to find, but it was somewhere far away, way beyond the wastelands she wandered upon. Figments of her memory floated by, vaguely remembering herself trudging through the same lands with little more than a sword, the clothes on her back and a ring.

The memories were strange. They felt as if they never really happened, but at the same time, something told her that they were credible.

She was a wandering, lost spirit, who had lost her life long ago. But there were no traces of peace, nor were there traces of regret in her memory, or lack thereof.

Why, then, could she not rest in peace?

Why was she mindlessly haunting a wasteland that she seemingly once traveled through?

The questions were gone again. And so her ghostly mind simply restarted its repetitive loop.

Where was she supposed to go?

What was her purpose?

Why was she still there?

The lone spirit in white continued to walk aimlessly. She had walked in easily over a thousand circles around the entire wasteland. Still, she was unaware, only walking forward, arms slack.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

There was nothing to detect, no mana in the area whatsoever. The plains were perhaps endless. The radiating waves continued to distort her vision, though it did not bother her at all.

There was nothing important to look out for anyway.

Bits of her memories flashed by again. She saw light, a large muscular figure, a shining axe. Then a smaller figure wearing either a dress or a robe. The two figures embraced each other. A house.

They faded away again.

While most would say that this person was going insane, she could neither agree nor disagree.

Perhaps the insanity only applied to living folk.

She was a wandering ghost, nothing more.

Another few steps. Nothing new to see.

Her once bright blue eyes stared forward, being little more than an empty gaze.

Nothing to see, nothing to hear.

There was nothing to do on the empty plains. All she could do was to keep walking around. The wasteland was dry, dead, endless- There was an anomaly in the astral field. There were more spirits in the area than just her.

Her mind suddenly flipped a switch to full alert. A being made of magic, she was able to detect sources of mana, and be drawn to it like a fly to a bright light.

It was made clear now. The wasteland she wandered in was a dimension in itself, and was thus made out of pure magic. It was an astral field in itself that had simply taken shape based on something...

... Something that she could not quite put her mind on. It was focused on scanning the new oddities that had appeared. They were different souls, that much she knew.

One was alive, the other six were dead.

The six spirits of the dead radiated way more mana than the living one.

A new thought entered her mind.

 _Stand your ground, get ready for battle._

Without questioning it, she slowly made her way to where the new beings were. As she walked, her plain white tunic was surrounded by light, the bright particles spinning rapidly around her form as it materialized into accessories. Her cape was extended, its corners becoming covered in gold markings, as her headdress faded into existence, her hair, done up in a side ponytail, was curled into ringlets, and jeweled armor plates appeared on her clothes, readying her for battle.

Far in the distance, she saw a bright purple and white vortex, spinning in the air, glowing as it shrunk into nothingness. Though it seemed to have disappeared, she could still see a faint glimmer of purple where it was, traces of mana simply glittering in place.

 _Minions have been summoned. Prepare to defend this place._ _Kill the intruders._

Monsters formed out of mana appeared before her, marching forward towards the party of newcomers. Among them, there were goblins, Ramias, Orthos, Unicorns, Pegasi, Angels and Poleviks, all slowly walking up to the group like zombies. As they approached, however, they began to pick up speed, the Angels taking flight while the Ramias slithered quickly, the Unicorns and Pegasi dashing straight for the party.

She summoned her sword, decorated with jewels. Slowly, she approached the strange party. As she did so, she changed her posture to something more fitting of the warrior that she was.

Her body was turned slightly sideways, her sword arm kept behind while her other hand was outstretched, ready to grab something if she had to.

All the while, the battle between the party and the monsters had begun, weapons clashing against flesh, claws, horns and the angels' shields, Battlecries were made, heavy weapons slamming into the ground, and the occasional gunshot added to the distant noise of the fight.

From her former life, memories of her fighting skills and her swordsmanship all flooded her mind in an instant. Clearly, she was once a lethal fighter, if the armor and the large sword in her hand were not good enough indicators. Gripping her sword as she neared the party, her sword began to glow with Light magic.

The party, upon a closer look, appeared to be a team of strong fighters as well. She counted three swordsmen, two spearmen, one mage and one gunner. Two Electric, two Light, two Earth and one Water elemental.

The Earth mage was tethering almost all of the other dead spirits save for the one Light swordsman, who appeared to have been supplied mana by someone else not present.

Though it seemed unfair that she was up against an entire team of souls who all seemed to be of a similar caliber to herself, still she was unfazed after studying her opponents from afar. The spirits were powered by a mere mage who was clearly weaker than her. As she read the mana in the air, she sensed that the spirits were using divided mana, with at least two of them only having transformed a day ago, thus being unfamiliar with their new forms. She could not help but briefly think that they simply inconvenienced themselves like the fools they were.

Despite that, they have finished off the minions of Angels, Goblins, Poleviks, Orthos and Unicorns that were sent at them. Knowing that the minions would take some time to spawn again, it was time for her to hold the ground herself.

 _Kill_ _them._

With a subtle nod, she got into attacking position while the spirits pointed their weapons at her.

"That's Alma. I met her at one point during the great war and teamed up with her, her father and a friend to defend La Veda. While the Republic's knights were taking care of the capital, we went for the borders, but at some point, we were split up for a while... I can't remember anything beyond that..." she saw the gunner point at her with his other hand, explaining to the mage in green.

The lone traveler, now known as Alma, changed her position to something more defensive, staring at the party curiously.

Now that the gunner mentioned it, as she reached into her mind for the memories, she remembered seeing someone who resembled him greatly. He was not the only person she remembered, however, for there were more as the memories poured into her mind.

A battleground filled with soldiers and abominations. The abominations were slaughtering most of the ordinary people, only being defeated by those who were strong in magic and were able to surpass the limits of a normal human being, fighting against the beasts and human-like abominations. Boosted by their high mana reserves and having been trained to fight and kill, they stood a chance against the abominations that threatened the rest of the humans.

She was there on the battlefield, fighting alongside three other figures. One was a large muscular man with black hair and blue eyes that looked just like her own. He wielded a halberd, sending shockwaves of Light through the air and shattering the earth as he slammed it into the ground. For some reason, something told her that the man was related to her in some way, but her memories were too far gone to pinpoint their relationship. In battle, his bulk allowed him to last a long time, and he was able to take down enemies even without his weapon, dashing straight into the fray without fear.

The second person she fought with was a blonde woman with her shining hair done up into ringlets. She was rather curvy, and she gladly flaunted her jewelry and decorations that covered her entire body. With a large ribbon on her head and a long veil covering her head, she looked more of a elegant maiden. However, her fighting style with a lance and her personality contrasted her beauty greatly. Brief flashes of her uttering vulgarities and then violently stabbing her enemies to death haunted her mind. She was quick, but made sure to strike extra hard when she charged into crowds of enemies, easily taking them down in groups.

The final ally she recognised looked exactly like the gunner she was to battle. He was thin, but his armor covered most of his body, and he wore a hat adorned with large red feathers, the hat itself often casted a shadow over his sharp blue eyes. He held a large otherworldly weapon which was black and adorned with gold vines. Though her memory still failed her for the most part, she remembered that he was from another world. She noted that he tried his best to stay away from the crowds of enemies, for he performed as a ranged attacker, his precise shots covering his allies while they fought in close range.

All three of her allies were proficient in Light magic, and their friendship was forged on the battleground, where they formed an alliance to defeat something which was threatening them and their home. Exactly what was her enemy, however...

Why did her memory fail her?

"She's not doing anything. Let's attack!" someone yelled from the strange party. Snapping her attention back at them, she charged straight at the gunner, ready to strike him down.

 _More minions have been spawned. It would be unfair to have you deal with six powerful spirits and one Summoner._

He seemed to brace himself first, fear flashing across his face before readying a dodge.

"Heidt, back off!" a flash of lightning threw her attack off, forcing her to back away as the force of said lightning slammed her sword aside. The gunman, Heidt, quickly ran off to some other position.

The instant the lightning dimmed, she knocked away the source of the lightning; a blonde woman in white armor adorned with gold, holding her halberd in a defensive stance. Just as she backed away, another woman in a blue coat pointed her spear at Alma. Before she could dodge, several tentacles shot out from the ground and constricted her. The woman in blue dashed forward, holding out her spear and ax.

There was no resisting the first blood drawn as the spearwoman mercilessly slashed and spun on Alma, tearing her to pieces. Still, she recovered quickly, for as soon as the tentacles were retracted, she quickly jumped up and slammed her sword on the woman in the coat.

"Eve!" the mage in green clothes and armor cried out.

The pirate, Eve, stumbled away, having been winded by the hit on the head.

Alma was not done yet, already parrying blows from another swordsman, this time one who used lightning. He was quick, but did not hit as hard as the pirate did. As Alma attempted to strike back several times, her attacks were only avoided, the fleet footed knight twisting out of the way each time, forcing her into a defensive stance. His two blades were little more than a flurry of blurs in the air before her, and she struggled with blocking every single hit.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the knight in black armor approaching quickly. Knowing that she would soon be ganged on, she forcefully shoved the lightning swordsman off as soon as they locked their blades, before delivering some hard blows to his abdomen, finishing with a powerful kick which sent him flying back.

"Ophelia, take over for Falma!" the Earth mage commanded. Just as he turned his head, he quickly leapt out of the way of an oncoming Unicorn. Shooting a sharp glare at Alma, he readied a spell of sorts, but Alma had no time to stay and watch, as she turned her attention to the one he called 'Ophelia'.

The swordswoman in black and green armor had waves of green aura swirling around her sword, which then disappeared as she brought her sword back. An instant later, she leapt up in the air, a plant following her up from where she jumped from.

 _"Grass Cage!"_ she yelled as her earthly aura exploded all around Alma, the sharp tendrils curving inwards towards her, forming a dome around her. The plant reared back and dove straight into the dome, smashing the swordswoman, the vines then retreating just as quickly as they had appeared.

It was followed by her nearly crushing Alma's very being under her great sword, as she slammed it into the earth, rocks sprayed out from the point of impact, some of them striking Alma. If she were human, she would have thanked the gods that she did not take a direct hit from the sword.

"Heidt, your turn!" the Earth swordswoman, Ophelia, yelled.

 _"Star Buster!"_

Before Alma could recover, just as the plant vanished, a barrage of pure concentrated Light mana struck her back, as if fired from a shotgun, the explosive impact sending her to the ground.

It was strange how it did not hurt as much as it should.

But then again, she was supplied with mana by a powerful source of some kind, for she knew that she could still endure way more than the spirits before her could. Completely unfazed, she launched herself forward towards the knight in white armor adorned with gold, who was preoccupied with the Rantouls and Unicorns that surrounded herself and the Light swordsman with a giant broadsword.

Alma focused her mana oversupply to her sword, feeling it surge with power as it began to shine with a brilliant light.

"Aem, look out!" the Thunder knight in white quickly turned to face Alma while the Light swordsman backed away, driving off the monsters that surrounded them.

 _"White Esperanza!"_

With a burst of Light, it promptly exploded all around the field, engulfing everyone in the area. The blinding light explosions were then followed by feathers made of light, the ferocious barrage drawing screams of pain from some members of the party.

The heat of it was electrifying, the harsh light tearing through her enemies, ripping their very beings apart.

But she was not done yet. Amidst the chaos of her spell, she charged forth, repeatedly striking the knight before her. Her sword clashed against a blade and a stick, as it was spun around and eventually, the double-ended halberd wielder was gone, as she found after her attempt at a sword thrust only stabbed at empty air.

A silhouette of a man with a giant sword prompted her to fall back, barely missing the tip of the great broadsword that crashed to the ground shortly after she dodged it.

She had almost no time to react as the swordsman proceeded to swing his sword at her again, easily blowing her away as she tried to block the blow with her own sword. Crashing to the side, she rolled back to her feet, dashing straight at the swordsman with shining silver-streaked hair.

He did not even ready a block.

Without warning, his sword was to his side and as Alma got close enough, in one fluid motion, he had grabbed her sword arm. With a low sweep of his foot, he had tripped her up quickly, briefly lifting his sword with only one hand before slamming it down on her.

Or so that was what he hoped to happen, for she was faster than him. Already on her feet just an instant before the great sword landed, it had landed on her cape, tearing it off as she frantically scrabbled away. The quickly escalating volume of the Orthos' snarls and Ramias' hisses as they swiftly approached was more than enough to force the knight to stop paying attention to her, focusing on them instead.

Before she could take the opportunity to defeat him while his back was turned, she heard gunshot, and in the next instant, a rapid barrage of magic had struck her down.

She rose to her feet again after a second.

It was a fairly obvious choice, that she had to take down the gunner from earlier; this one had been keeping a distance from the battle, firing blasts of Light magic at her. Even in the blinding lights and amidst his cries of pain, she had to dodge his shots as he continued to fire away at her, some grazing her.

Of course, she was too fast, already before him, slapping his arm away and slashing across his chest while he was left wide open.

Her sword shattered his chestplate, drawing blood which burst forth from the wound, and stained his white clothes. As she coldly glanced up to his face, his expression contorted with shock and pain, unable to even scream as he fell back. In a last-ditch attempt to harm her, the large gun's barrel was swiftly aimed at her face.

It was within that instant that her spell had ended, the scathing light dissipating, having done its damage.

It went off point-blank, just as she thrust the sword through his chest, the sound of his flesh being ripped apart punctuated by the exploding sound of the gunshot.

In an explosion of light, Alma was forced to back away in a daze, having taken a full blast in the face, but she knew that she was far from done, unlike the gunman whom she had ended.

His corpse lay on the ground, unmoving. Before Alma could stare for any longer, a strong blast of magic had struck her side, blowing her off her feet and sending her crashing to the ground. Sensing the presence of the Earth mage, she rolled aside, barely dodging another blast of magic which shattered the ground next to her. As she looked upon the area of impact, she noticed that the corpse was gone, having disintegrated itself, along with the blood that stained her sword and clothes mere seconds ago.

Glancing at the mage, she saw that he was glaring her down with nothing but pure unbridled fury, his arms glowing with magic, and as she realized, he did not use any other conduits like a tome or a staff. Though he appeared to be grimacing in pain, possibly from being within the range of her spell, it did little to deter him as he gestured towards her feet, a green circle appearing around her, glowing as brightly as her spell.

His lips parted, saying something amidst the noise of the explosive spells being cast, the other spirits' battlecries and pained screams as they took some hits from the monsters.

She heard nothing, however, except for the sharp whistle of a swiftly approaching weapon. Within the instant she had to side-step the weapon, the axe fell right she stood, grazing her side.

"Summoner, look out!" one of the spirits yelled out. As she glanced at the mage briefly, she saw the swordsman of light rush towards him, who was being approached by a Pegasus.

In that same instant, she felt her arms lose their strength, and felt that she was hit with one other ailment which she could not pinpoint.

Without any hesitation, a large spearhead was swung her way by the same wielder of the battleaxe, the rogue in blue glaring her down with her single eye. Quickly focusing on her opponent once more, Alma brought up her sword, barely blocking the heavy weapon, the recoil pushing her back, being of a smaller build than the pirate that she battled.

Though she knew that she was sustained by a great source of mana, and that she could still endure more, she found her own body losing its endurance. The battle had taken its toll, and she had to end them all, fast.

Her sword flashed in a bright light once again.

" _White Esperanza!"_ she had casted her spell again.

And so, the pirate, known as 'Eve' as someone had called her earlier, rushed at Alma, bringing her spear and battleaxe down on the young wanderer while she parried with her sword, and repeat.

The knight of lightning with the twin blades from earlier had returned as well, dashing straight into the fray of bladed weapons clashing and slamming Alma to the side, unaffected by the blinding light.

She rolled and recovered in an instant, sidestepping the two light blades swung her way, ducking, dodging them as quickly as the knight of the sky struck. Finally understanding his fighting style, she kept as close to the ground as possible; his high strikes were far deadlier.

As for the pirate, she hit hard and had an extra weapon to cover whatever potential weaknesses she had, but she was not speedy with her feet like the rest of the group...

Just as the two attempted to trap her with overhead swings, she saw her chance. Dropping to the ground, she performed a swift pirouette, sweeping the knight off his feet while jarring the pirate, before jumping up as she spun again, striking her down quickly with her sword.

Tearing the pirate's face apart first, she stomped down on her arms before thrusting her sword through the pirate's chest. No noise was made by the pirate save for the sound of her flesh ripping apart, as she became limp an instant after her life was ended.

Quickly turning around, the knight of the sky and the knight in black and green rushed back again, fast approaching her, but Alma wasted no time, narrowly twisting out of the way of both swordsmen, kicking the Earth knight in the back as she passed. The lighting knight swiftly began his ferocious barrage once more, while she had no choice but to block and avoid his attacks.

The Earth knight had already recovered, beginning her attacks on her as well.

Her area spell ended again, allowing the spirits to see clearly again. With a grunt, she tripped up the Earth knight with the broadsword…

" _Rising Arc!"_

A powerful electrifying strike. And then another. And another. And another. And another. And another.

She was sent flying the next instant before the lightning knight spiked her to the ground, throwing her around as if she were little more than a rag doll. She had no time to counterattack; the knight of lightning was too fast, to the point of inhumane.

Once she crashed, she struggled to recover, being covered in wounds, wide cuts, bruises and whatnot, the sustained damage taking its toll on her.

Her limbs refused to cooperate, paralyzed after the shock she received from the lightning strikes.

Unable to move, there was no avoiding the finishing impalement, a thin sword stabbing through her.

As blood spilled forth from her abdomen, where she was stabbed, she simply turned her sword around and thrust it forth, through the lightning knight above her who had failed to see the counterattack coming. However, even after his brief cry of pain and cursing, in the same instant he uttered a vulgar word, she was forcefully pushed off the sword, leaving the wound wide open.

Hitting the bloodied ground once again, she no longer felt strength in her body, the mana supply fading away as she was further weakened by the swift blood loss. Still, she refused to give up, for she attempted to push herself up, but why did her arms fail her so…?

A swift rib-shattering kick to her side as she tried to move again, forcing her to roll once.

She landed, face-first, into the cracked soil, and a weight was quickly placed upon her back, pinning her down while her sword was knocked away.

"… So, is she down for real this time? I saw our Summoner cast a debuffing spell on her earlier which should have knocked her combat capabilities down," a soft, monotone voice from above her. Slowly turning her head, she caught a glimpse of black and green armor.

"Well, she's down, but not dead, considering that she's still here," the knight of the sky spoke, glaring at her as he clutched his bleeding side.

"You should end her for good, considering that she managed to kill two of our squad, and Aem took a hit for us from the monsters earlier," white and gold armor flashed above her, as a halberd was placed next to her face.

"And I just took a hit from her... It hurts. A lot. Who knows what else she might do even while she's down like this," the weight on her back was briefly removed, as she was then flipped over to lie on her back, facing upwards to the sky knight.

He slowly stood up and backed away, completely unfazed by the defiant glare she shot at him.

"So, which one of us should finish her off?" the halberd-wielding knight spoke, a sadistic grin coming on to her face.

"You do the honors, Amy," a new voice, possibly the mage of the earth.

"With pleasure," the knight in white and gold armor, addressed as 'Amy', raised her halberd's spearpoint above Alma's chest, pointed straight at her heart.

And with a splash of blood, everything turned dark and faded away into nothingness.

* * *

It was dark.

It was empty.

It was silent.

The soul stirred, dim at first, before brightening itself with its light, as if it attempted to illuminate the darkness that surrounded it.

Only to no avail.

Unable to do anything, it forced itself to focus. Bringing back its memories, it saw brief flashes of a bloody battlefield, of dead creatures, and dead people. It remembered, it was fighting to defend a strange eldritch world it inhabited. There were intruders, consisting of a Summoner and six... Units?

That was what they were called?

 _"Ah, I can sense that you're active again. Alma, was it? Would you like me to call you out of the seal so that you can introduce yourself to me?"_ a voice came to her mind, having a slight echo to it as it spoke to the soul through... telepathy?

… _Who are you?_

 _"Maybe I should summon you. It'll be easier speaking to you in person instead of thinking through this mental link. Heck, I look weird staring at a seal right now..."_

… _Do what you will, Summoner._

Strange, that did not come from her. Yes, she remembered now. She was a mere traveler, hailing from the La Veda Republic, who had left on a journey... No, it was a quest. There was an objective.

Her parents had gone off on a mission of some kind, one night while she slept, and the next morning, when she woke up, she found a ring and a letter on the dining table in her house. Even after waiting for a few days, when they never returned, she then set off after them, only taking along a spare change of clothes, her sword and the ring.

She traveled through almost all of Grand Gaia, searching the ends of the world to find her parents, whom she missed dearly.

Her memories ended there. She remembered nothing else of her former life.

As her body materialized into existence, she appeared, wearing a plain white tunic over black leggings. Seeing light again for the first time, it was a miracle that she was not blinded by it at all. It did, however, feel strange to be able to see the world again, as she looked around the room she stood in.

After noting how... different... the walls and furniture looked compared to the ones commonly used in typical houses back in the La Veda Republic, she turned to face the one who stood next to her.

Before she could even finish judging the Summoner's appearance, she spoke, smiling as she did so, "A Summoner, eh? I guess I can help a little! And I'll be watching you!"

* * *

 **Author's note: In case the hints were not enough, this Summoner used a full team of 5-Star Units, along with a reinforcement 5-Star Aem.**

 **Alma is a 5-Star Unit in the fight, but upon capture, she became a 2-Star Unit.**

 **Don't worry about the two dead Units. They got better.**

 **This is a past event that occurred in my Summoner character's career, and has nothing to do with my gameplay experience.**


End file.
